APOLLO 17 EARTH ORBITAL CONTINGENCY MISSION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00514R000200190003-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: November 17, 1972
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2008/03/19: CIA-RDP75B00514R000200190003-2
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACI' ADMINISTRATIot+~~ Rti` 1?M QN V7
WASHINrrnN, D.C 20546
NASA Review Completed.
NRO review(s) completed.
NOV 17 872
MEMORANDUM FOR: Honorable Henry A. Kissinger
Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs
SUBJECT: Apollo 17 Earth Orbital Contingency Mission
January 18, 1972 Memo to Dr. Kissinger
from Dr. Fletcher, BYE 17471/72, Re: Apollo 16
Earth Orbital Contingency Mission.
(1)
Memo
dated
for Record from Mr. Peter Jessup,
26 January 1972 (U), Re: Apollo
16
Earth
Orbital Contingency Mission.
(2)
we are developing plans for an earth orbital contingency mission,
ae w have for previous Apollo missions, that would be implemented
in the unlikely event that Apollo 17 achieves a successful earth
orhi I but cannot continue to the. moon. This earth orbital
contingency mission would perform useful experimentation, in-
rlt.ldinq earth survey photography.
The Apollo 17 lunar mission, the last in the Apollo program, is
scheduled to be launched at 9:53p.m. EST on 6 December, . 1972.
'rho photographic equipment on board is identical to that carried
on Arx)11o 15 and 16. The only significant change from previous
r-ontingency missions which were approved by your office is that-
ijecatt,e of a night launch there will be little opportunity during
the six and one half day mission to obtain photographic coverage
of the United States. Proposed emphasis within the potential
photographic coverage opportunities available will be on Spain,
Ethiopia, South America, Central Austriilia, and Western and
Northern Africa.
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You Will note that orbits between 40?N and 40?S latitude will
p1 are' the spacecraft over much of China and a small portion
o f t:lhe USSR. Lighting conditions will make some photography
of t-hose areas possible. While your office has not previously
aut-.lu>r_iaod photography of the Sino-Soviet Bloc from Apollo
r'entingency missions, we note the following for your considerations
I. There has now been an apparent advance in inter-
nat_ i.cnal acceptability of earth orbital photography with the
~u c'e y#ul. operation of the ERTS-1 satellite. No objections
were made to open reporting of this mission in the UN Outer
Space Committee, and some 50 nations have actually proposed
the use of ERTS photography for experiments. About 110 such
r periments from 38 nations have so far been approved.
2. Satellite photography of the Sino-Soviet area would
not in itself appear to establish a precedent since photographs
have been taken of the Chinese area in Gemini missions and were
published widely thereafter. Photography of Soviet land features
has been obtained in US meteorological satellite programs.
Some of this has been reproduced in Soviet publications. The
new factor would, of course, be the higher resolution of the
Apollo 17 photography, which will be in the 10-40 meter class.
3. The Soviet Union is now publicly conducting an earth
orbital photography program and has publicly reported taking
orbital photography outside of the Soviet Union, specifically
mentioning Africa.
While there are no strong programmatic reasons for taking
photographs of the Sino-Soviet areas, and ground truth will not
be available, we think there is merit in continuing the
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prnct:ice of completely overt world-wide photographic coverage
initiated with ERTS-1, and setting further precedent for Skylab
photographic operations commencing next April. For these
reasons we recommend approval of photography of these regions
on can ad hoc basis when lighting conditions and a limited film
load pcrmiti, and when appropriate geophysical features are in
view of the astronauts. We do not wish to press the issue,
hut: feel that the inherent pros and cons deserve careful con-
sicirration in light of possible impact on our planning for
photographic operations for the Skylab mission in 1973. It
s:houid be noted, however, that the NRO, and we understand in-
formally ACDA, have reservations.
In any event, should the Apollo earth orbital contingency
411ipFion be flown, we plan for a review of the imagery prior
t. , :4zny public release and dissemination.
Wo would appreciate being advised as soon as practicable if
national policy considerations permit our extending photographic
coverage to other geographic areas of the world, including the
Sino-Soviet areas, in the unlikely event the Apollo 17 contingency
mission is flown.
ames C. Fletcher
Administrator
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